Richard Osman said it is going to be “lovely” to watch someone fill his seat on Pointless so he can play along as a punter. The TV presenter and bestselling author announced in April that he was leaving the gameshow after nearly 13 years.
Richard has filmed his last episodes for the daytime series already and commented on the “amazing people” replacing him on the show. Asked what it was going to be like to watch someone else do the job on Pointless, he told BBC Breakfast: “Do you know what? It’s actually going to be lovely.
“I’m the only person in Britain who doesn’t really get to play along with Pointless because I’m sitting there with the answer and I know I’ve got to talk about the scores and all that stuff. I think the new ones are going be on quite soon, I’ve filmed my last ones already.
“The idea that I can watch and actually play along and guess at the answers… they’ve got amazing, amazing people replacing me, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Richard co-hosted the gameshow alongside Alexander Armstrong who is set to be joined by a host of guest presenters including Sally Lindsay, Alex Brooker, Lauren Laverne, Stephen Mangan, Konnie Huq and Ed Gamble.
Alexander previously said of the line-up: “This is going to be such a ride! Richard will still be in once a week on Saturdays to make sure everything’s ticking over nicely, but otherwise it’s just me bringing new Pointless friends in and showing them the ropes. Loads of new and fun personalities on the desk next to me. I can’t wait.”
Richard, 51, will continue to host future series of Pointless Celebrities, the BBC said in May, as well as still hosting BBC Two show, Richard Osman’s House of Games. He will also be seen on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? in an episode airing on June 9.
His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, was published in 2020 and became a bestseller, with global film rights bought by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment. The book follows a group of pensioners at a retirement village who investigate unsolved crimes and a sequel, The Man Who Died Twice, was published last year.
Osman told BBC Breakfast ’s Sally Nugent: “The books are taking me around the world, that is the truth, I have to sort of put all my efforts into it. And so I was going to get to the stage where I wasn’t going to be able to put enough effort into it.
“And you know, if you’re making a TV show, you’ve got to give 100% of yourself the whole time. And I sort of thought, I don’t know if I’ve got the time to do it. So I felt I’ll let other people have a go with it and get on with the books.”
